Inevitabilis
by Flurrin
Summary: Katniss avoided making a contract to become a magical girl for years. Being magical makes you eligible for the Hunger Games, after all, and no one needs that extra stress. But when her sister nearly starves to death, she realizes she can't do it all on her own without a little help from the Capitol. Told in snippets. T for violence and character death. Mild Kat/Peeta. Spoilers!
1. Desiderium

**Chapter I: Desiderium**

I'm skeptical.

It's only natural. The Incubators have been running the Capitol for years. Just as they've created our fine society, they've become a national symbol for greed. Any wish. Any desire. You just have to ask. They defy all logic, all science. When someone wished for the Districts, they appeared. Twelve of them. Technically thirteen, but that one's been quarantined, and they say anyone who enters it will turn into a monster.

One of the Incubators is staring at me now. He's sitting adjacent on the rock ledge, his thick, fluffy tail twirling slowly, back and forth. He tilts his fuzzy white head, which is clearly visible against the dark blue shadows that come before dawn. The moonlight makes him glow. I guess I can see why everyone's so quick to give them nicknames like 'Kyubey' or 'Cubay'. I imagine any girl from the Capitol would squeal about how perfectly adorable he is, but I have more important things to notice, like his crimson eyes, and the way his voice seems to invade my mind like an oppressive shadow.

"Katniss Everdeen, you have incredible potential inside you. I want you to make a contract with me. I will turn you into a Magical Girl, someone who can fight against the evil power of the witches, in exchange for any wish you have on your heart."

I've practically memorized the spiel. It's required viewing for any girl, in any district. Boys, too, but it takes a very special boy to take on the role, so there aren't as many of them.

"Tell me, what is it you truly desire?"

I've never sought an Incubator out before. It's always been something I just assumed, out of common sense, that I would never do. But something happened today that convinced me I can't do this on my own.

Still, I can't will myself to open my mouth for a full minute or two. The Incubator is either incredibly patient, or just unable to notice time passing. He blinks once or twice as he waits for my words.

My father had met his end in the coal mines two years ago. My mother had vanished some time after that. Either she'd tried to sell her old soul gem and ended up punished by the Capitol, or she'd slipped off somewhere to join her husband in death. Either way, me and my sister, Primrose, were left alone. Today, I had slipped into the deepest state of despair I'd ever felt. Me and Prim had been attacked that morning by a monster who quickly established its labyrinth around our house. I had no money, no food to bring to our makeshift, temporary home in the woods. I felt all alone until the baker's son, Peeta Mellark, discreetly tossed a rejected loaf of bread my way. I realized then that it was okay to accept help from someone. And only one type of person could truly help me now.

The Incubator straightens. "Is it that you want to live in the Capitol? Your status as a Magical Girl would automatically make you—"

I get my lips working, finally. "No. I want—I don't want to change my life."

"Then why have you been searching for us?"

How has no one ever noticed how red their eyes are? They're glowing in the night-time darkness like twin warning lights.

"It's just..." I look away. I will not let my tears slip free. We've been taught that emotion is a vital part of a human's life. So why do I feel so weak whenever I express myself? "My father..."

The Incubator begins licking his paw. A callous gesture, but I forgive him. He can't understand. "There are very few things an Incubator can't do, Katniss Everdeen. Resurrection is one of them. It takes incredible power to raise the dead, more than can be found in a single human."

"I know, I know." My brow furrows. "I can't have him back, but things have been impossible ever since he died. Please. I just want to protect my sister from starvation. She's ten."

"That's a perfectly reasonable demand. You understand that becoming a Magical Girl makes you eligible to compete in the Hunger Games, correct?"

I swallow. "I understand."

Do I really believe this small, squishy cross between a kitten, a rabbit and a puppy can keep my sister alive? An image of Prim, so tiny and thin, her bones traced out inside her skin, comes to my mind. No, of course not. But a network of them can. I have to believe that. I have no choice.

The Incubator's long ears rise, as if they've lost contact with the earth's gravitational pull. Time to make the wish.

I'd once heard a story about a genie who granted people wishes, and made them miserable using loopholes. I don't know whether to be general or specific when I speak. I go with 'honest'. "I wish for my sister, Primrose Everdeen, to be safe and well-off!"

There's a moment where it feels like my body has turned into water. The tips of the Incubator's ears sink into my sternum. It's not painful, but the wind is forced from my diaphragm and I force my eyes shut. When I awaken, there's a stone in my hand.

A soul gem.

"Congratulations, Katniss Everdeen, your wish has triumphed over entropy! You have a new duty to protect District 12 from the monsters bearing grief seeds. You will be excused from any former duties to perform this task."

I want to tell him I know all this, he should move on now, but I feel drained. I stare at my forest-green gemstone, which is caged in pure gold. It gives off a faint, yellowish glow.

The Incubator vanishes, and I eventually pick myself up and trudge home, pocketing the soul gem. I almost wish I could sell it—selling soul gems is about five hundred different shades of illegal—but then I remember that things are going to be better for Prim from now on. I don't need to scrape for cash or food to keep my family alive. The Incubators must be a benevolent race, or else they would have wiped us out with their powers eons ago. I could trust them to understand my wish.


	2. Ludos

**Chapter II: Ludos**

Two Tributes from each District. Most often two girls, since magical boys are scarce to be found. In the 74th Hunger Games, two years after I first made my contract, there were only two boys total out of twenty-four children. One of them was a veteran from last year, as there were no rules against sending Tributes back into the fray. Me and Madge Undersee represented District 12. I hadn't known she was a magical girl, and I didn't get the chance to learn anything else about her. She had been one of the first Tributes to die.

Taking a deep breath, I draw the string of my bow and an arrow appears between my fingers. I plant my boots in the earth and my eye never leaves the target until after I've sent the projectile into her throat. She screams and retreats into the forest. She'll be fine. Everyone here has learned that the only way a magical girl can die is to destroy her soul gem. Well, that's not entirely true—rather, you need to destroy _her_ in order to kill _her body._ And that's what we were brought here to do.

I remember hearing a quote from an ancient writer once before. He had said something like "You do not have a soul. You _have_ a body. You are a soul." I never thought about whether it was true for humans, but it certainly is for magical girls. My hand flies to the gem fastening my braid, and I sigh with relief as I confirm its presence. My forest-green, stone soul is safe.

"Is she gone yet?"

Turning back to look at Rue, I manage a fake smile for her. She's propped up against a tree, one very broken arm cradled uselessly in a sling. "Yeah, she won't be bothering us again."

My magical gear—tan breeches, hunting boots, a belted olive shirt that forms a skirt around my hips and, of course, the bow—fades back into regular Tribute getup. Rue watches, her eyes looking duller and sadder than before.

I come closer, pulling the soul gem out of my hair. "Why don't I fix up that arm of yours? The fight gave my gem a little extra energy."

"Why am I here, Katniss?"

Her question surprises me. "It's the Hunger Games. We were chosen to do this. We don't have to think about it, we just have to survive."

"I didn't want any of this. I just wanted to make music. I wanted to be heard." Tears stream, unchecked, down her chocolate-skinned cheeks. "But we're killing them. We're being killed by them. There won't be anyone left to listen."

Her soul gem is visible on her choker. The once ice-blue gemstone has turned a smoky, sickly color. It's like staring into the entrance of a coal mine.

My fist tightens around my own soul. "We can still win this." A lie. _We_ can't win anything. I could, or she could, but no two Tributes ever can.

"You have a great chance, Katniss," she says quietly.

"And you, you're the fastest one here. Come on." I extend a hand.

But her eyes squeeze shut and her head falls back against the tree. "I'm...I'm really never going home, am I?"

I sink to my knees."What?"

There's no time for a clarification. There's a sound like a fragile icicle snapping. A cold hand clasps my heart and an explosion blows me against a tree. What happened? Did a Tribute with combustive magic find us? I scream as my shoulder blades meet unyielding bark, but I keep my eyes on Rue. She's lost her soul gem in the confusion, and as her body slips limply to the grassy ground, I realize it's been destroyed.

Then a surreal figure, like a specter from a nightmare, shoots into the trees.

"No!" How could the Incubators let a monster loose in here? Tributes paired off all the time. I hadn't done anything against the rules, and neither had Rue. She didn't deserve to die this way.

The monster observes me coldly as it builds a labyrinth around us. The insect sounds and bird songs become a chaotic orchestra. Slow, sad piano notes whistle past my ear. A music monster?

I stare at the creature. A giant black and blue mockingjay with spider-silk feathers. Something about that makes me stop, and a cold dread creeps into my stomach.

Mockingjay songs? Gossamer wings?

"Rue?"

Those wings rise skyward. Four notes explode in my head and shake the shifting forest around me, confirming my worst fears. Rue's soul gem hasn't been destroyed. It has merely changed forms. It has turned into a grief seed.

"We—we've been fighting magical girls? All along?" My mind was reeling. How many monsters had I slain, how many seeds had I collected? My legs nearly gave under me, but I forced them to turn and run from this horrible place.

"But you knew that, didn't you, Katniss?"

An Incubator in the trees. I can't do this right now. I keep running.

"Surely you noticed the similarities. The motifs, the tokens. A connection between your mother's disappearance and the grief seed that hatched right by your home."

Another one. Or is the same one just changing his location, faster than the eye can even follow?

"You knew they had to be coming from somewhere. You knew the rumors about District 13."

Oh, please. Please, God. Just make them leave me alone.

"But you love fighting. You love the thrill of the hunt. It's your calling to destroy monsters."

"How can you do this? We trusted you!" I shriek. It was obvious that this portion of the Games wasn't being filmed. I won't have to worry about what I say anymore. I will likely be eliminated offscreen.

"We've done nothing to break that trust. We've never told you anything but the truth."

I snag my foot on a tree root as I fell out of the monster's labyrinth and end up on all fours. "Concealing the truth is as good as lying!"

"You, Katniss Everdeen, have the greatest potential to be a monster that we've ever seen. You keep all your emotions under lock and key. Someday, somehow, we're going to find a way to make you feel them. Succumb to despair."

"Never!"

"Hate us as much as you like. If it wasn't for you, the universe would be destroyed. Humans must become magical. And magicals must become monsters. The energy created and released by a human experiencing first pure hope and then pure despair is the one thing we have to battle entropy. The Games bring those emotions to the forefront. It is the way of the world."

"No! This can't be the only way!"

"What could you hope to do to change it?" The red eyes. Those stupid red eyes. I'm not even looking but I can feel them boring into my back.

"I'll tell them! I'll tell everyone!"

"Unfortunately, due to a wish one of your kind made..." The Incubator is right in front of me, standing stock still. "No one will ever believe you."


	3. Fracturis

I hate how it came down to this.

How my sister made the contract.

How fate took every chance to sneer at me and my pathetic wish.

There are only two Tributes from each District. Yet somehow I was selected once again. The sole survivor of the 74th Hunger Games, forced to fight against her own sister in the 75th. Breaking me just isn't enough for the Incubators. They intend to destroy me, to turn me into one of the creatures I'd spent years of my life fighting.

"Prim!"

I am hunting my sister this time. I have to find her. She isn't dead, she can't be. I would know if she was. But I'd had a horrible sinking feeling in my gut ever since I woke up to discover that she'd ended our partnership and fled into the woods.

"Primrose Everdeen!"

How many Tributes were even left at this point? I had lost count on purpose. I didn't want to think about me and Prim all alone in the Hunger Games, and what that would inevitably lead to.

"Primrose, please! Please answer!"

My calls echo uselessly around the island. I've lost track of both the time and the section of the clock-face arena I'm in, but my own safety has never mattered from the start.

I freeze suddenly, willing the jungle wildlife to just shut up so I can hear better. But the sound comes again, and this time I'm ready for it.

"Katniss?"

"Prim." I follow the voice straight to her. She's sitting peacefully against a palm tree, one hand curled into a fist around her gemstone. Her blonde braids have come partially undone and her costume shows a bit of damage. A Tribute with a shattered soul gem, a boy from District 3, I think, lies dead a few feet away.

"I thought it might be the mockingjays again," Prim whispers. "They were calling with your voice."

"No. No, it's really me, Prim. Everything's going to be okay, little duck." My face is a stone mask.

She doesn't seem to be hurt, but the way she's sitting perfectly still against the rough tree calls a bitter recollection of Rue into my head. I kneel uncertainly at her side. Wrap her inside my embrace.

She buries her face in my shoulder, the action weak and sluggish. I like to think she's taking comfort in just knowing I'm there for her. I sing softly to her, like I used to do whenever she woke me in the middle of the night, and rock her back and forth. Wishing the entire arena would just vanish. Wishing we were back home.

It takes her a while to speak. "You know how you told me that story about how magical girls turn into monsters when their soul gem becomes tainted?"

I glance at the body of the Tribute. "Did you see it?"

"Oh, no." She sighs. "But I might yet."

Her little clenched fingers uncurl.

The lavender soul gem inside is the color of an oceanic abyss. It seems to give off darkness rather than light. The very color of despair.

She smiles apologetically at me. "I used up all my power in that last attack. I guess it was stupid to run off, huh, but I didn't want the contest to come down to you and me..."

"No," is all I can say.

"I always believed your stories, Katniss. The good ones...and the sad ones."

"It can't happen again. It can't." I'm searching through my backpack, trying to find a grief seed. Just one. I only need one!

"Well, I guess...I hope this isn't too much to ask...I need you to destroy this."

I could have sworn I had one more in here. One grief seed! That's all I ask! "I won't let it happen!"

"Katniss?"

I look into Prim's blue eyes. She's terrified and calm all at once. She has complete faith in me. She knows I would never let her turn into something that would hurt people. That was her wish. My little duck had a desire to heal. She saved Gale's life, and who knows how many others, with her wish.

Suddenly, I can't even face her anymore. My boots dig viciously into the sandy earth as I stand.

"What about _my_ wish, Incubators?" I scream into the clear blue sky. I know they're watching. They're always watching. "I only ever wanted one thing!"

Then I fall to my knees. Every single sob I've ever stifled, every tear I've ever blinked away comes out in full force now. My face stretches into unexplored expressions as I cry my heart out and my own soul gem goes cloudy. I hope the Incubators are pleased.

Prim sniffles, too. "Please. Hurry. I really did believe you, Katniss...and I don't want to become a monster. Please do this for me."

I stand. Clear my blurry vision. Realize I could never be stronger than Prim is right now, and how she has outgrown me.

"Close your eyes, Prim," I say, my back still to her.

"Mmhmm."

I raise my bow. A line of energy runs from the grip and along my fingertips as I pull the string back, turning slowly, trying desperately not to think about the consequences of this shot.

This one shot.

And my arrow finds its mark.


	4. Vox

**Chapter IV: Vox**

I'm sweating when I wake up. Peeta's in the armchair next to me, his fingers curled around mine. I stand up, glancing around the room in confusion. My brain registers the recent photo of Prim and Madge painting the district hall together.

That was probably the worst and most detailed nightmare I've ever had. And I've had quite a few.

I glance down at my soul gem as if to confirm that it isn't tainted. I'd never seen a monster like those in my life before. Or had I? No, my purpose as a magical girl was to fight demons, not those things. Demons all looked the same, and I understood where they and their curses came from.

"Time is it?" Peeta asks from behind me. Normally being a magical girl keeps one from having a boyfriend, but with a man as patient and understanding as Peeta, it isn't a problem. He respects my position, and he's always, always there for me when I have nightmares about the Games. Gale is a wonderful friend, but he just never has the time to understand me anymore. We keep on good terms, but I know Peeta's more likely to love me—really love me—forever.

I glance at the analog clock on one wall. "Quarter after five."

He tilts his head quizzically, glancing at the black sky outside. "At night?"

"No. In the morning. I'm going to get an early start."

"Okay. I should probably get to the shop." He stands up.

I tie my hair into the signature braid and pause as I look in the mirror. I slept in my clothes, so I'm wearing a black tunic and gray breeches. It's an odd thought, considering I've never really cared about my appearance before, but today I think my outfit could use a little color.

"Peeta, you were here when Prim got back from the general store, right? Do you know if she bought any ribbon?"

It's a weird thing for me to ask, but he doesn't react. He reaches into a paper shopping bag on the table. "Yeah, actually. Red ribbon, is that okay?"

He hands me the spool. I snip off a length, staring at it oddly. "It's perfect. Huh."

Peeta laughs. "Ever get a strange feeling of deja vu?"

"All the time lately." I tie my hair back with the ribbon, nestling my soul gem in the bows. "I hope it doesn't last."

"I do." The boy stops at the door, his back to me, one pale hand resting on the knob. "It always makes me feel like...well...like things would have ended badly any other way. Like this is better than anything we've ever had before." His blond head rises to stare at the ceiling. "It makes me feel content."

"Hm." My outfit shifts into my magical girl costume. "I never really thought about it."

"Good luck demon-slaying. See you after work."

I leave the house through a window. The dirt crunches beneath my boots as I hold my magically-strung bow at the ready, watching for the demons in the streets. I can see at least five of the giant, white-cloaked creatures already, distorting the world around them with pixels.

Tiny white paws pad along next to me. A fluffy, white tail twirls amiably.

I smirk."Hey, Cubay. What's going to happen to you now that someone wished for a system other than the Capitol?"

The Incubator shrugs. "We'll probably go back to aiding your kind from the shadows. Running a government was nice while it lasted, but humankind has to stand up and support itself eventually, after all. We wish you the best of luck. Please don't waste the powers we have granted you."

"Of course not. That would be stupid."

He pulls ahead of me and looks over his shoulder, one paw prepared to make another step. His maroon eyes blink. "I trust you entirely to use them with wisdom, Katniss Everdeen."

I've long since given up trying to get him to call me anything less than my full name. "I'll do what I can."

"Very well. The demons seem to have multiplied overnight. I wish you the best of luck. Farewell!"

The wave of demons has sensed me now and they're making their slow way towards me. I study the line, wondering if I have enough power in my arrows to deal with all of them at once.

A sound in my head makes me pause briefly. It's a little girl's voice. It reminds me of Rue, young and sad. Rue was led away during the Games by the Law of Cycles. She was only twelve. But instead of sorrow, a sense of peace and even hope washes over me. Maybe it's the words that comfort me. In the quiet that comes before dawn, she's only said one thing:

"Do your best."

* * *

Author's Note: This story was originally just a sentence in my ideas document, but I'm glad into spiraled into these four short snippets. I would love for someone to take this crossover idea further some time, but I'm done with it for now. What happens to magical-girl Katniss, I leave to your imagination. And hey, if you have any questions, noticed mistakes or have any better ideas you'd be all right with me putting in, let me know! I'd love to hear your criticism. Above all, thank you very much for reading.

- Flurrin


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